The Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania plays host to Banner Promotions “Boxcino” tournament semi-finals in the Heavyweight and Super Welterweight division. ESPN2 aired the opening quarterfinal round Super Welterweight tourney from the Mohegan Sun Casino last February 13th and the network will air this Friday’s fights as well as the Finals slated for later on this year. Right now, the two fights in the Super Welterweight division are at the books, but the two Heavyweight matches should be added later this week. There is no over/under posted, and all semi-final bouts are scheduled for 6 rounds. Brandon Adams (16-1) faces Vito Gasparyan (15-3-5) in a match that sees the 25 year old Adams a strong (-1300) favorite over the veteran Gasparyan, who is returning (+700). The 25 year old Adams is one of the tournament favorites, as he stopped Alex Perez (18-1) in the opening round. He also has the experience of being the runner-up in last year’s Middleweight tournament promoted by Boxcino, where he lost to Willie Monroe Jr. Now in a lighter weight class, he is facing Gasparyan, who went the distance in beating Simeon Hardy in his tourney opener. Gasparyan has been in with the likes of Jermell Charlo and Jessie Vargas and gone the distance, so he has a higher level of competition, but this Boxcino tournament is his first competition in over two years. Undefeated Stanyslav Skorokhod (9-0) enters as a solid (-550) favorite over John Thompson, who returns at (+400). The Ukrainian Skorokhod is coming off a fourth round stoppage of previously unbeaten Michael Moore. Prior to that, he beat trial horse David Lopez in his USA debut back in October, and prior to that all his fights are in the Ukraine, where he has an extensive amateur record as well. Thompson was (14-0) as a professional before he was stopped by Frank Galarza in defense of his interim WBC Latino belt in January of 2014. That led to a layoff of over a year, with his February quarter final win over Ricardo Pinell was his return of sorts. In the Heavyweights, Andrey Fedesov (26-3) faces off against Lenroy Thomas (19-3) and Razvan Cojanu (13-1) faces Donovan Dennis (11-1). All four men won their Quarter-Final matches on February 20th. In the individual match-ups, Fedesov is coming off a one round stoppage of Nat Heaven, while Thomas fought Jason Estrada to a draw after six rounds and only emerged as the winner after an extra round. Cojanu needed an extra round to decide things between him and Ed Fountain, while Donovan Dennis got the stoppage win over Steve Vukosa in the fourth round. The live event features three other non-tournament bouts, and the tournament finals are officially scheduled for May 22nd, in Corona, California.
